Just a Tad

Grab Bag

–noun

1.     a container or receptacle from which a person at a party or the like 

        draws a gift without knowing what it is.

2.     any miscellaneous collection.

Seriously, I'd write more if someone gave me a jumping off point. This blog gets enough compliments from friends in the industry that I definitely want to post regularly but the void between my ears needs some priming.  If you've got questions about animation, fire them off.  In the meantime...

MY CARTOON NETWORK DEVELOPMENT

Development is a painfully slow process.  You have a meeting.  You have a burst of creativity.  You spew  the fruits of your imagination all over the page and send it off. And you wait.  And wait. And wait and wait and wait and wait and wait and wait and wait and wait and you hear nothing.

And if you're not careful, you wither.  You doubt every creative notion you've ever had.  You assume, now that they've actually seen examples of what you had in mind, they realized that they made a terrible, terrible mistake and are looking for a way to easy the blow.  Singing telegram?  Guy in a gorilla suit?  Written on a giant chocolate chip cookie?

In reality, you are not the center of their world.  Don't worry, Mom still likes you, but your creative execs are busy.  This is where I am now.  Had a great first meeting.  Learned why they optioned my show and the elements of it that they want to see me emphasize, talked about antagonists and sent me off to write premises.  I did the prerequisite spewing on the page and emailed my creations, still dripping with promise and enthusiasm.

My execs promptly left town.  Was it something I wrote?  And for all I know, they could be headed to the Catskills for a vacation.  More likely, they're dealing with the work of many other creators who have projects in development in addition to giving notes on every premise, outline and script of ongoing shows.  I did send in some sketches of some possible antagonists and got an email in response.

Okay, it was an auto-replay telling me the guy was out of town but it WAS a reply.  

Thankfully I got a second reply promising a meeting and an unofficial comment about liking the premises.  That went a long way toward blowing the clouds of despair out of the sky.  And so I wait........

 I'M NOT WAITING TABLES

I am working on a the new Fox prime time animated show, BOB'S BURGERS.   This is not to be confused with the chain of Bob's Big Boy restaurants.  Coincidently, that was my childhood burger.  I grew up only a few blocks from their famous Toluca Lake location.

Storyboarding on the animated series is a kick.  And I'm getting to witness an entirely different creative process from what I do on my own shows.

The series is by Loren Bouchard  and benefits from his unique vision for the show.  This guy knows exactly what he wants which makes the whole production tremendously easier.  We spend our time trying to get the most entertainment out of the material instead of guessing at what the producer wants.

I'm amazed at the way Loren and his fellow producer, Jim Dauterive, keep the process loose while dealing with the structure of animation production.

In typical TV animation, a script is written, recorded and doesn't change from then on other than cutting it for time or to make room for gags developed in storyboards.

Prime time shows often have "writers rooms," meaning a staff of writers that not only write individually but also review each others work.  These shows  reserve the right to rewrite throughout the process just as they would in a live action comedy.  I believe this started with James Brooks when he started The Simpsons..  

There are good and bad versions of this.  There are producers who can't look at a storyboard without coming up with changes, no matter at what stage of production the episode is in.  This is close to the definition of Hell.  Your work can be tossed, not because the gags weren't funny or you messed up the staging but just because the producer thinks it would be neat to do something different.

The good version is when the producer is always conscious of productions.  Thumbnail boards are meant to be rough because that's when most of the changes will be made.  It's understandable, it's like a playwright seeing the first rehearsal of his play.  After that, lines may be rewritten for humor or to smooth a transition after scenes are cut or for any number of reasons, but the locations aren't suddenly changing from Mars to Reno.  

The biggest difference is respect.  When a producer appreciates the work being done, is complimentary to the stuff that's working and explains the reasoning behind any changes... you can't help but feel part of a team.  That's the way animation is supposed to work.

Loren and Jim encourage lots of improv by their actors.  Surprisingly, when a show is long, they don't just cut the material that doesn't propel the story.  They hang onto the material, improvised or written, that gives their show a unique voice.  I had a whole sequence cut to make room for an improvised bit by a secondary character.  

I didn't mind.  It was only in thumbnails.  I realized that the new sequence wouldn't fit in The Simpsons, South Park or Family Guy.  It was unique to Loren's taste.  And come January of 2011 you'll find out if it's yours.  --Tad

 

They PAY Me Too?

 I get comments sometimes.  Here's one now:

Lade Adeyemi said:  The page has been "favourited" so I can look up your advice again and again and again, but I noticed you don't have any info about how animated show CREATORS, if the moon and the stars and other celestial bodies were aligned, would expect to get paid. I mean - if we were lucky enough to get a series greenlit: what should we try to hold on to at the negotiation stage? What kind of residuals should we expect? And how in the name of tomatoes would we register the show with the WGA (Do we register the name of the show? The full character bible?)? Like the rest of the other thousands of folks, I'm armed with nothing but an idea and a dream, so, really, your advice would be massively appreciated. 

Here's the rule that supersedes all other rules: "If they want what you have badly enough, they'll give you anything you want."  But they would really, really, really have to want it for you to get a platinum deal.  That's more likely to happen in the live action world of bankable movie icons and superstar directors.  For those who inhabit the halls of animation, the rewards can be nice but not astronomical.

So I'm not going to talk about the "I-won-the-lottery" type deals.  I will not tell you about any of my deals.  But I'll talk about what you might ask for if you create an idea that a studio wants.

First off, registering something with the WGA is simple.  Go to the WGA Registry site.  Register online with a credit card.  The current fee is $20 dollars.  Fill out the form and register anything that you've written that you intend to present to the studio.

Okay, your material is registered, you pitch to the studio, they love your stuff and the negotiations begin.  If you don't have an agent, now's the time to get one.  It will be fairly easy to get one since you have a deal ready to be made.  The agent will work with the business department and get whatever he can.  The agent will then get ten percent of every payment you get.  Often your paychecks will go to the agent and his agency will cut you a check minus their 10%.  How to find an animation agent?  Ask your animation associates.

 Few will have much good to say about their agents.  It's all about expectations.  What you expect in an agent is someone who's constantly out there, working connections and telling producers, studios and network executives how wonderful you are.  You assume he's so "inside" that he'll know about any potential jobs before the studios know they're hiring.   In reality, it's up to you to find the work and the agent gets his ten whether he is needed to negotiate or not.  He'll earn his money when you're up for a staff job or when you have a show idea they want to buy.  The more you give your agent to shop in terms of scripts or pitches, the more he has reason to be out there working for you.

You don't need an agent to write episodes for someone else's series because there's rarely any leeway in the budget.  The script fee is the script fee.  But for anything that entails working our rights or a long term commitment of your time, you want someone who knows what they're doing, either and agent or an entertainment lawyer.  The lawyer charges by the hour but doesn't take 10% of anything.   So these are your reps and they'll attempt to get the best deal they can.  It's up to you to know what you want.  (Don't worry, they'll help.)

Basics:  You should get an option fee which is "earned" the day you sign the contract.  This gives the studio the exclusive right to develop your project.  At the end of the development process you'll get some big lump sum.  This is the price of selling your show.  At that point, the studio owns the copyright and all rights connected to it.  Usually the option money comes out of that price.

Next, it's time to develop your idea.  You'll get paid a fee for writing a bible (or "mini-bible"), an outline and a script and rewrite them until the development execs are happy with them.  Figure about twice a normal script fee for all three things.  You can set when you'll be paid but I think it's normal to get half at the start and half when you've turned in the final script.  What's next?

Before I go on, let me mention that the studio will most likely include language in the contract that allows them to hire somebody else to do just about everything.  If they do, you'll get a different (lower) fee.  Don't get incensed at this.  Think of it from their point of view.  They love your idea.  They think it will be successful.  They assume you'll be the one to make it so.  BUT if you're not, they don't want to give up on the idea.  They like the idea.   It's just you that leaves a little something to be desired.  So they'll need to move on to someone else but they still want to be friends.

After your script is accepted, it's turned into a storyboard and an animatic.  It may even be animated.  If you're an artist/director type you should try to be a part of this and get a fee for it.   If you're "just" a writer get a smaller fee to be a consultant.

Although it feels like the famous "counting chickens before they hatch," your development contract should also include your position, title and salary when your pitch becomes a series.  

Outside of all that, try for a payment whenever the studio is poised to make more money from your project.  What if it becomes a TV movie or a direct to video release?  What if it becomes a movie movie?  What if it becomes a toy sensation?   Your agent should make the deal with the idea that it will be a success on a SpongeBob level.   Chances are it won't, but if it does you don't want to the sour grapes guy, getting nothing while others are swimming through their money bins built from your inspiration.

 And now the reality check:  What you can get is based on what you bring to the table BESIDES your idea.  The more experience, the better your track record, the better your reputation, then the more you can hope to get.  Your agent/lawyer should never lose a deal because of money.  He should know when he's made the best deal he can and when to stop pushing.

As long as you're not holding out for outrageous demands it should only take three months or so (it's not the talking, it's the waiting between meetings).  Hopefully, the dealings are closed before your development executives are replaced or before the company isn't taken over because you won't have any creative meetings until your deal is settled.  BTW, this is not necessarily the same date as the signing of your contract which can take longer.   The studio's business department will tell their executives when they can begin talking to you.

Unlike a WGA contract, there are no residuals in animation.  Yeah, yeah, except in consideration of the first rule near the top of this page.  But don't count on it.  You get a flat fee for the writing of a script.  If you've created a show, you could try getting some sort of payment for the first time an episode is shown even if the show goes on without you.  

There are guys who've created HUGE hits for networks who still couldn't get the deal they wanted on their next show so don't be greedy but don't be stupid.   This is why you need the counsel of someone you has dealt with the studios, knows the going rates, and recognizes when it's time to stop talking.   Your job is to make the best show possible.

So that's what I have to say about that.  Thanks for the idea, Lade.  As to the rest of you,  when there's a gap in my weekly blog posts it either means I'm busy writing or I haven't hit on a topic worth writing about.  Feel free to post your questions.

Another Treasure

My dad wanted to be a cartoonist.  When at USC, he did a cartoon for the campus paper but had to carve it into a linoleum block.  Not much chance to work on your inking technique that way.  He graduated in the Depression so took whatever job he could get.  If you have a chance to visit the subterranean world under Chicago, you might find his chalked initials on sewer pipes or whatever is under there.   After he died the family was amused at finding a business card that showed he worked for an organization that campaigned for the prohibition of horse racing in California.  My dad LOVED horse racing.   The best present I ever got him was a sort of odds calculator.

But I digress.  I've written before that I grew up pouring over the Famous Artists Cartoonist books; I posted pages from it about Milt Caniff and Willard Mullin.  My dad loved "How to" art books and had a library of them about cartooning.  His long lasting career was in marketing/advertising for the Carnation Company where they didn't even know he could draw until he was almost retired.  He got a job shift that let him use his art sense.

Anyway, I found this correspondence course that I had only briefly glanced at before.

 

It's on heavy card stock which was folded in thirds to be sent through the mail without an envelope.  I just noticed where it was sent... I didn't know my Dad was ever stationed in Ottumwa, Iowa.  Although I know he was in Jacksonville.

Selfishly I'm glad my dad never had overseas duty.  If he had there'd be a good chance I wouldn't be here.  But he did his part, teaching boxing (out of a book, he had never boxed), general athletics and serving as an MP.  This would've been a better Memorial Day post.  I happened to watch the complete series, The Pacific, which was both moving and horrifying.  

I reminisce about my early days at Disney but the father's generation would've spent those years in trenches, jungles and frozen forests.   Then they carried all those memories with them as they returned to lives in offices and suburbia.  Amazing.  Here's to them and the veterans of all wars who fought when their country called.  War sucks.  It's not the only answer to remedy every situation but even "unjust" wars are fought by brave men and women looking out for each other.

Now to the art.

 

I admit I've never thought of arranging flowers as a way of practicing composition.  I suspect this guy was trying to make points with his wife with that.   The rest of the page is actually full of great examples of a common mistake still seen in comics.  I never thought of it as composition as much as just a mistake, but having unintentional contact points between a foreground figure and a background flattens out the drawing.  Overlapping the objects gives it depth.  Separating the objects avoids confusion.

Are you making a daily cartoon-idea sketch?  -- Tad